Background The delivery of palliative care research is a priority of the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Research Delivery Networks (RDN) (previously called Clinical Research Networks, CRN) (NIHR. 21/54 NIHR Palliative and End of Life Care Research Partnerships - commissioning brief. 2021; Department of Health and Social Care. New NIHR Research Delivery Network created. [internet] 2023). The RDN facilitate the planning, set-up and delivery of health and social research studies through staffing support, training, and access to the NIHR Study Support Service.

Aim To promote research in hospices, a free in-person study day was held in London (March 2024), sponsored by Marie Curie and hosted by CRN North Thames, CRN North West London, CRN South London and CRN Kent, Surrey and Sussex.

Method Mentimeter was used as an engagement tool during the event and SurveyMonkey for feedback at the end of the day. Quantitative responses were calculated using counts/percentages. Free text data were evaluated using thematic analysis.

Results 75 people attended the event from 36 different organisations, including 17 hospices and 33 hospice staff. 48% (27/57) attendees said they were either ‘somewhat’ or ‘not at all research active’, with 22% (13/57) ‘moderately’ and 30% (17/57) ‘very’ research active.

Expectations of the event: 55% (29/53) wanted to network/meet others/collaborate. 40% (21/53) wanted to increase knowledge or gather information.

End-of-event feedback was received from 49% (n=37) participants. 65% (24/37) felt there was sufficient time for networking, but 35% would have liked more. For 63% (22/35), the importance of networking and collaboration was the main take home message.

At the start of the event, 54% said they were ‘not at all’ or ‘somewhat’ confident they knew where to find support to be research active. After the event this reduced to 16%.

Conclusion Palliative care has recently been recognised as a specialty within the RDN. The RDN and other organisations should harness the perceived importance and value of networking to support the delivery of high-quality palliative care research across settings.